Picture this: You’re on the perfect first date. The charming stranger sitting across from you orders you both another glass of wine with a wry grin, and as the waiter walks toward the bar, he starts weaving together a dreamlike description of the life you both might have together. You’re…
Kids often feel pressure from their parents to succeed. For the most part, this comes from a place of love and wanting the best for their children. However, sometimes parents can put too much pressure on their children, to the point where it starts hurting them. When parents expect too…
Abuse is a dangerous and prevalent issue for many people. However, it can be incredibly nuanced, which can make the abuse difficult to identify. One type of abuse that happens frequently is called reactive abuse. Reactive abuse is much like gaslighting, as it’s a tactic used by perpetrators of abuse…
Camille and Amma couldn’t be more different. Camille is a 30-something journalist who prefers to stay under the radar. Amma, on the other hand, is her more outgoing and rebellious kid sister. That said, there is one common thread between them: their mother Adora. Or more specifically, her abuse. If…
Trust issues are characterized by fear of betrayal, abandonment, or manipulation. And this fear is often triggered as a result of betrayal (such as infidelity), abandonment (think: leaving a child or foregoing a relationship with them), or manipulation (for example, dishonesty or gaslighting). If you’re reading this, it’s possible that…
The idea of brainwashing had a viral moment in the 1950s when the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) decided to wage psychological warfare against Communism. Project MKUltra secretly experimented with “mind control” techniques, dosing people with lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) without their consent. In fact, at one point the CIA…
Narcissists are self-absorbed. They often dominate conversations, manipulate their loved ones, and engage in deceptive behaviors for profit. You might try to steer clear of these disingenuous individuals, but you might also fall victim to their manipulation. So, how do they accomplish this? How do narcissists control you? And how…
This is not a fun topic to write about. Parent-child breakups are painful for everyone involved: for the adult children who feel torn between filial duty and self-protection; for the toxic parents who can’t understand what they did wrong; and even for the children those parents once were, who were…
Toxic relationships are everywhere: We can have an unhealthy attachment to our parents, our partners, even our phones— anything that we interact with, really. Yet rarely do we take a look at our friends. This might be important, considering they’re the people we often vent to about everything (and everyone)…
Some shoppers have nightmares about arriving at the big box store 5 minutes too late to snag the Black Friday doorbuster they came to buy. For other shoppers, a nightmare scenario is the Black Friday shopping itself. Consider this [Trigger Warning]: You walk through the automatic doors of a megamall…
Every fall, Black Friday and Cyber Monday loom as the notorious twins of November, luring shoppers out in droves amid fierce competition. But beyond the viral videos of people fighting over TVs, these two consumer holidays are a big win for companies, with Americans spending nearly $20 billion on both…
As social stigma and perceptions surrounding mental health conditions continue to change, popular usage of mental health terms is increasing as well. Of these terms, “trauma bonding” has been among the most used, researched, and debated. A form of psychological manipulation, trauma bonding occurs when someone experiences cyclical abuse from…
